F 159 
• P6 N6 
Copy 1 



PITTSBURG 



AND- 



The Men 
Who Made It 

By THEODORE W. NEVIN. 
Price 25 Cents. 



THE BURTON PRESS, 

43 J Fifth Ave., 

PITTSBURG, PA. 



PITTSBURG 



■AND- 



The Men 
Who Made It 

By THEODORE W. NEVIN- 
Price 25 Cents* 



THE BURTON PRESS, 

431 Fifth Ave., 

PITTSBURG, PA. 






LIBRARY Of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 17 19U4 

Copyright tntry 

CLASS ^ XXC. No; 



COPY B 



7i 



Copvright 1 904 bv Theodore W. Nevirv. 



Preface. 



The following paper was pre- 
pared nearly a year ago at the re- 
quest of that distinguished literary 
body of the college town of Lan- 
caster, Pa., the "Clio," and read at 
one of the society's meetings by 
the writer. It contains so many 
facts of a valuable character not 
obtainable elsewhere that it has 
been thought by many friends to 
be worthy of preservation in a 
convenient and permanent form — 



hence its appearance in its present 
shape. A few emendations and 
corrections have been made since 
its original preparation so as to 
render it a more perfect repre- 
sentation of Pittsburg of to-day. 

The writer is indebted to 
friends in the business life of this 
community as well as to several 
local historical works for much of 
the data ; and it is his desire to 
extend his sincere thanks for the 
same. T. W. N. 

Pittsburg, Pa., Nov. 1904. 



Photo, of a Natural Rock Formation near Snow- 
den Mountain, Wales— named after the Father 
of Pittsburg on Account of its Resemblance 
to the Head of the Great Commoner's 
Statue in Westminster, London. 



The Beginnings of a City. 

About a century and a half ago 
George Washington, at the head of a 
small band of troopers, stood on the 
top of Mt. Washington, one of the high 
hills towering 300 to 400 feet above 
the Monongahela river, and looked 
down at the half square mile of com- 
paratively level ground at the point 
where the Monongahela river joins the 
Allegheny to form the Ohio. He was 
much impressed with the prospect, and, 
— 5 — 



with a keen appreciation of the possi- 
bilities of the place, remarked : "This 
would be a good place for a mill." He 
considered the judgment thus formed 
of sufficient importance to note it in his 
diary. It is not recorded whether the 
"Father of His Country" pursued any 
further the investigation of the advan- 
tages of that particular spot, which is 

now the business section of the City 
of Pittsburg; whether he knew that 
under his very feet there lay immense 
veins of coal — veins, the outcropping 
of which was visible half way down 
the hill he stood on; whether he knew 
that but a few miles away in the moun- 
tains ore was to be found ; whether he 
figured out that the large river which * 
— 6 — 



led off to the west was capable of car- 
rying the products of such a mill, or 
mills, to a vast empire of the future. 
Very likely not. Lieutenant Washing- 
ton was more intent on securing the 
military supremacy of his country in 
the district than in establishing indus- 
trial plants. But his off-hand judg- 
ment was good. Since that day Pitts- 
burg has grown and steadily advanced 
in manufactures. For the first hun- 
dred years the growth was compara- 
tively slow, but during the past twenty 
or thirty such great strides have 
been made that it has distanced all 
others as an industrial center. An 
idea of the steady growth of the place 

— 7 — 



can best be obtained by the citation of a 
few figures on population and the 
value of the manufactures at several 
periods during the century. Starting 
with the year 1800, one finds the popu- 
lation to be 1,500, and the annual value 
of the manufactured products $222,- 
000; 1850, population, 68,000; value 
of products, $50,000,000; 1870, popu- 
lation, 175,000; value of products, 
$90,000,000; 1884, population, 240,- 
000; value of products, $300,000,000; 
1902, population of "Greater Pitts- 
burg," which includes the cities and 
boroughs lying* immediately outside 
the corporation boundaries, but which 
are an integral part of the city busi- 
— 8 — 



ness life, 950,000; value of manufac- 
tures, $450,000,000. 

The causes of the rapid development 
of Pittsburg may be seen at a glance. 
Probably the strongest factor at the 
outstart was its position as a trans- 
portation center. With one river lead- 
ing northward, another southward, 
and a third westward, when water 
transportation was the most convenient 
method of shipping freight, this point 
could not fail to appeal to the judg- 
ment of the early settlers. And justly 
so. Even now with railroads radiating 
in every direction the use of the rivers 
is a most important factor in the city's 
commerce. The extent of this traffic 
— 9 — 



is amazing, the available statistics for 
1902 showing that 16,000,000 tons 
were handled at this port, and these 
figures would be largely exceeded if it 
were possible to get complete records 
of the business handled. 

A later and paramount reason for 
the concentration of business here was 
the question of fuel. Coal in and 
about Pittsburg is cheap, abundant and 
of the best quality. 

With fine water transportation at 
hand, fine coal cropping out of the 
hills surrounding the place, and ore in 
the mountains a short distance up the 
river, Pittsburg only needed men of 
sufficient business sagacity and enter- 
— 10 — 



prise to push it to the front as a manu- 
facturing community. The men were 
not lacking. They were mainly 
Scotch-Irish and Englisli, Those who 
inhabited the place previous to the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, it 
must be acknowledged, were nothing to 
be proud of. Like most pioneers they 
were a rough lot; the dare-devils and 
pirates of the east who rushed into the 
then unknown country to loot the In- 
dians and the unwary emigrants who 
might come their way. 

But the character of the people of 

the place soon changed. The emigrants 

who poured in were of a better class, 

and many of them, instead of going 

— 11 — 



down the river to Kentucky 01 out to 
Ohio, as had been their original inten- 
tion, were so pleased with the possibili- 
ties of Pittsburg that they stopped off 
and settled. In addition to these, 
many of the volunteers, men of fine 
stock, who were sent to Pittsburg 
about this time by the government to 
suppress the Whisky insurrection of 
1 79 1, also decided to become residents. 
This new class of settlers gave the 
town an entirely new aspect. New en- 
terprises sprang up, churches and 
schools came into existence and health- 
ful bustle and activity ensued. In the 
forefront of business of that day we 
find such men as the O'Haras, Mc- 
— 12 — 



Cullys, McKee, Irwin, Harmar, Denny, 
Elliott, Craig, Davis, Bruce, McCul- 
lough, Guthrie, etc. These men built 
their plants and manufactured their 
iron and glass by the most improved 
methods. They brought skilled work- 
men from the Old World, as well as 
from the east, in order to get the best 
results. At the outset there was little 
competition ; they had the market west 
of the Alleghenies for their own. Nev- 
ertheless they did their work well, and 
when the canal and later the railroad 
came over the mountains and the 
products of the east came in their busi- 
ness was sufficiently well established 
— 13 — 



to stand the shock of eastern competi- 
tion. 

The early settlers, as stated above, 
were principally Scotch-Irish and Eng- 
lish with a sprinkling of German. 
They were a careful, conscientious, 
hard-working, just people. They had 
the Scotch honesty of purpose, indom- 
itable energy and perseverance, tem- 
pered by the Irish lightheartedness, 
which made them affable and well dis- 
posed toward mankind. When they 
came to this country and advanced into 
what was then a wilderness, it was for 
the purpose of work, hard work. They 
were ready and willing to stand the 
privations of the frontier ; their energy 
— 14 — 




Fhoto. of a Life-size Painting of Mrs. 

SCHENEEY IN THE OED SCHENEEY 

Mansion. Stanton Ave. 



was unrelaxing, while their perse- 
verance was inspiring. They were not 
mere plodders. The Scotch-Irish mind 
is a storehouse of ideas, and these 
pioneers made valuable use of them, 
planning- their work so as to get the 
best results. 

Probably the character of the 
people cannot be better illustrated 
than by briefly calling attention 
to some of the characteristics of the 
men who helped to make the city. 
Major Ebenezer Denny, of good 
Scotch-Irish ancestry, was the first 
mayor of Pittsburg, after its incorpora- 
tion in 1816. It is related of him that 
when he was a boy of 13 his intrepid- 
— 15 — 



ity and prowess were such that he was 
intrusted with the carriage of impor- 
tant papers from the east across the 
Allegheny mountains to Fort Pitt. On 
these long trips he was obliged to 
sleep out in the woods at night and 
travel cautiously by day. On two oc- 
casions he was chased by Indians, but 
succeeded in eluding them and getting 
through in safety the papers of which 
he was custodian. 

Another Scotch-Irishman worthy of 
mention was William McCully, who is 
known as the "Father of the Glass 
Industry." Possessed of a decided in- 
dividuality and a strong character, he 
devoted his indomitable energies to the 
— 16 — 



one aim of developing and making a 
success of the glass business. He 
learned the trade practically, and made 
a careful study of the methods and 
arts practiced by his contemporaries in 
the east and in Europe. If he saw or 
heard of anything better than his own 
methods he did not let his pre- 
conceived notions or practices stand 
in the way of the immediate adop- 
tion of the new ideas. He was 
most successful, and it is needless to 
say that the glass industry of the dis- 
trict profited by his activity. 

Dr. Hussey, of Quaker descent, born 
at York, Pennsylvania, in 1802, came 
to Pittsburg as a young man. He was 
— 17 — 



a most daring, though at the same time 
judicious business man. In any new 
enterprise in which he embarked he 
first carefully studied the details ; then, 
feeling sure he was right he would go 
ahead without fear. Thus it was he 
who established the first copper smelt- 
ing works in Pittsburg, and later on 
solved the problem of smelting large 
masses of copper by erecting a furnace 
with a movable top; and this in spite 
of the sharp criticism of numerous 
skeptics. But his method was found 
to be successful, and was soon adopted 
by all his rivals. So simple was it that 
the former methods seemed almost 
laughable. Dr. Hussey was the first in 
— 18 — 



this country to make crucible cast steel 
in large quantities and of good quality. 
His project was received, even by his 
immediate friends, with much the 
same doubt and coldness, amounting to 
positive opposition, that met his plans 
for a copper mill ten years before. All 
opposition, warnings and prognostica- 
tions of evil only seemed to stimulate 
him, and as difficulties arose his inflex- 
ible purpose only mounted the higher. 
He would never have undertaken to 
make cast steel by the old English 
methods; he developed and perfected 
what is known as the "direct process." 
This "direct process" was attacked bit- 
terly by the agents of English steel in 
— 19 — 



New York and elsewhere, who de- 
clared that "good steel could not be 
made in any such way." The experi- 
ment was, however, a phenomenal suc- 
cess. 

William H. Brown, who flourished 
during the middle of the last century, 
was another typical man of the time. 
He first worked on a farm, next on the 
canal, then opened a small coal mine in 
what is now the Thirteenth ward, 
Pittsburg, and sold his product with 
his own horse and wagon. This was 
followed by the purchase of a small 
boat; the purchase of other boats came 
in quick succession, and in a few years 
he became the coal king of the western 
— 20 — 



rivers. To illustrate Mr. Brown's 
keenness and courage it is related that 
in 1858 he entered on an experiment 
which the wisest of his fellow coal men 
declared would be a failure. His plan 
was to send a tow of flats to New Or- 
leans. Prior to that time coal, instead 
of being towed by steamers, had been 
floated to New Orleans in large keel 
boats or barges, and the expense of the 
trips did away with the profits. Tow- 
ing was accordingly in no favor 
among shippers of coal to the lower 
ports, even with the most substantial 
boats; and Mr. Brown's proposal to 
use a tow of flatboats, of light and 
shallow construction, was considered 
— 21 — 



absurd. The keen vision of Mr. Brown 
was justified by results and a new out- 
let for the growing coal trade of Pitts- 
burg was provided. 

Benjamin F. Jones was born in 
Washington county, his family, for 
several generations, being Pennsylva- 
n'ans. His ancestors came over with 
William Penn. His first venture in the 
iron business was with a Mr. Kier, in 
1847. A few years later, in 1851, he 
secured an interest in the American 
iron works, which has steadily grown 
through a period of fifty years, so that 
to-day it is one of the largest works in 
the country, and to quote Mr. Jones : 
— 22 — 



"From the mines to the rolls the ma- 
terial used is of our own production." 

Mr. Jones' success was no freak of 
fortune, but was brought about by his 
ingenuity, his clearness of vision and 
well applied industry. He worked 
along scientific lines, made close esti- 
mates, careful investigation of new 
methods and did not hesitate to install 
novel processes and approved mechan- 
ical appliances when his judgment told 
him they were good. 

It was men like these and others of 
similar character that were instrument- 
al in the upbuilding of the manufac- 
— 23 — 



tories which made Pittsburg the solid, 
substantial, wide-awake city it was at 
the beginning of the 8o's. 

No small stimulus had been given 
to the trade of the place by the oil de- 
velopment of the 6o's and 70's. Many 
fortunes were made and the capital ob- 
tained was invested in new industries 
and the extension of old ones. 



\^> \^ 



24 — 



Giants of the Boom Period. 



By 1884 Greater Pittsburg had a 
population of a little over half a mill- 
ion, while the annual output of its 
manufactories amounted to $300,000,- 
000. In the twenty years succeeding 
there has been a phenomenal growth, 
both in population and the volume of 
products. Almost 1,000,000 souls in- 
habit the district and the annual output 
is worth close to $500,000,000. 

A potent factor in this marvelous 
twenty years' growth has been the 

— 25 — 



utilization of natural gas for manufac- 
turing purpOvSes. The introduction of 
this fuel into the mills and furnaces 
so cheapened products that a remarka- 
ble stimulus was at once given to all 
kinds of trade. The glass factories 
had new life put into them; the manu- 
facture of plate glass, which had pre- 
viously been tried in various parts of 
the country only to fail, soon became 
an established industry. New iron and 
steel mills, .wire mills, tube mills, etc., 
sprang into existence and old ones 
were enlarged. The benefit derived 
from natural gas was enhanced by the 
great reduction in the price of coke 
which came with the scientific develop- 
— 26 — 



ment of the coke industry by Mr. H. 
C. Frick and others. Mr. Frick is a 
business man quick of comprehension 
and accurate in judgment. He was 
the first to recognize the value and im- 
portance of Connellsville coal for cok- 
ing purposes. Shortly after the panic 
of 1873 he commenced buying coal 
lands in that region. His judgment 
proved to be correct; the cost of coke 
production was reduced and the use of 
it greatly extended. Mr. Frick be- 
came the dominant operator in the 
business, and a very wealthy man, His 
coke interests were so great, and his 
remarkable qualifications as an organ- 

— 27 — 



lzer and director of vast business 
interests so apparent, that the attention 
of Andrew Carnegie was attracted. 
This brought an offer of an interest in 
the Carnegie steel works, a consolida- 
tion of his coke interests with that com- 
pany, and finally the presidency of the 
combined enterprise. 

Among the forceful men whose rise 
has been contemporary with that of 
Mr. Frick there are two that tower 
above the rest — Andrew Carnegie and 
George Westinghouse, the canny 
Scotchman, and the modest inventor 
of Dutch descent. The secret of An- 
drew Carnegie's marvelous success lies 
— 28 — 



in his consummate genius for organi- 
zation, coupled with a keen insight into 
human nature. His powers in this lat- 
ter particular are extraordinary, and 
much of his success, as he himself ac- 
knowledges, is attributable to his abil- 
ity to select officers capable of carrying 
out his ideas. One of Mr. Carnegie's 
associates said of him : "It is hard to 
define in exact terms the power Mr. 
Carnegie had of stimulating his sub- 
ordinates and infusing them with his 
own consuming enthusiasm. He had 
a genius for discovering young men of 
exceptional ability — having secured 
them they were given a fair chance to 
prove their worth. No favoritism of 
— 29 — 



any kind was allowed, all promotions 

being solely by merit 

'Deadheads' were a luxury never tol- 
erated in the Carnegie Company." Mr. 
Carnegie's basic principle in business 
was "concentration." "Concentra- 
tion," he says, "is my motto — first 
honesty, then industry, and then con- 
centration." Putting it another way 
he said : "I believe in carrying all my 
eggs in one basket — then watch the 
basket." This is what he did. When 
he entered the' steel business he 
dropped all else and devoted his time, 
thoughts and energies by day and by 
night, to business concerns. He ex- 
pected his "young partners," as he 
— 30 — 



called them, to do likewise; and they 
did likewise, or else ceased to be part- 
ners. One of these "young partners," 
in talking to me a year or two since, 
said : "Mr. Carnegie is a wonderful 
man. I don't understand the power 
he has over the officers of the com- 
pany. It matters not where he is — 
whether it be in Pittsburg, in New 
York, on the ocean, in Scotland, or in 
Egypt — I can't help but have the feel- 
ing that he is looking over my shoul- 
der watching me do my work. It is 
not necessary to say that the effect is to 
make me do the best that is in me; I 
fairly slave in order to bring results. 
He wants us all to concentrate our 

—.31.— 



thoughts and energies in the one 
thing— the work in hand; no outside 
interests must distract our attention. 
He pays us liberally — makes fortunes 
for us; but he exacts his pound of 
flesh in the amount and quality of work 
we do." 

Mr. Carnegie at one time in his ca- 
reer was tempted to establish his new 
works on the lake front in order to be 
nearer the source of the ore supply, 
which came down over the Great 
Lakes from Lake Superior. The idea 
was that the coal could be carried to 
that point more cheaply than the ore 
to Pittsburg. A most careful investi- 
gation of the points involved was 
— 32 — 



made, resulting in the decision that 
Pittsburg was the proper site. It was 
the natural meeting point of the three 
principal elements used in the produc- 
tion of steel — coal, ore and limestone, 
the latter coming mainly from the 
eastern slope of the Allegheny moun- 
tains. This question settled he then 
proceeded to build his mills — one large 
plant following another with magical 
rapidity. He soon had his own ore 
fields in the Lake Superior regions, his 
own fleet of ore boats to bring the ore 
down to the shores of Lake Erie, and 
his own railroad to bring it from that 
point to the Pittsburg mills. He had 
constant difficulties to contend with. 
— 33 — 



but nothing daunted him; he seemed 
to thrive on the throwing aside of the 
stumbling blocks he found in his way. 
He thus built up the great Carnegie 
works, probably the greatest industrial 
monument any man ever had. These 
he managed through his able lieuten- 
ants until he finally sold to the United 
States Steel Company. 

The various Carnegie works give 
employment to probably 40,000 work- 
men. Allowing five to a family, this 
would represent a population of 
200,000, a city in itself, which Mr. 
Carnegie added to Pittsburg. 

Next to Mr. Carnegie in building up 
the industries of Pittsburg, and in 
— 34 — 



thus contributing to wealth and popu- 
lation, was George Westinghouse. 
Mr. Westinghouse is an American of 
Dutch descent. His father was the 
owner of a machine shop for the man- 
ufacture of agricultural implements, at 
Schenectady, New York, and at an 
early age young George was put to 
work in his father's establishment to 
learn the trade. It was while as a boy 
at work there that he earned the nick- 
name "Lazy George," because he in- 
vented machinery to do his work so 
that he could lie idly by. His fellow- 
workmen, at least, thought the sole im- 
pelling motive for this early develop- 
ment of his inventive faculties was the 
— 35 — 



desire of ease. A few years later he 
found himself in a railroad train that 
was wrecked between Schenectady and 
Albany, the wreck having occurred 
from the ineffectiveness of the hand- 
brakes then in use. This set young 
George to thinking how trains could 
be stopped more quickly. He decided 
that it must be done from the engine, 
since the engineer would be the first to 
see danger. His first experiments 
were with the use of chains, which 
were worked from the engine, but it 
was soon demonstrated that this plan 
would not do. Reading of the use of 
compressed air in Mt. Cenis tunnel for 
driving drills, he at once set his mind 
— 36 — 



to work on methods of applying that 
force to the subject in hand, and after 
numerous experiments he succeeded in 
perfecting the airbrake. When the 
airbrake was invented Mr. Westing- 
house was but 22 years old. The 
works for the making of the new 
brakes were established at Pittsburg, 
being capitalized at $50,000. He and 
his partners little realized at that time 
what a revolutionary invention it was. 
In three months they were compelled 
to double their capital, and the 
doubling process has gone on from 
time to time ever since, until now the 
company's holdings have a par value 
of $11,000,000, the market value, even 
— 37 — 



in the strenuous times of last year, 
ranging from 225 to 300 per cent, 
higher. But while the airbrake was 
such a tremendous success it was by 
no means Mr. Westinghouse's greatest 
triumph. He has established a num- 
ber of other industrial works which 
have been as successful, and bid fair 
to be more successful than the airbrake 
company. The Westinghouse Elec- 
trical Co., capitalized at $24,000,000, 
is one of the two great concerns which 
practically dominate the electrical 
manufacturing business of the coun- 
try. This company has 10,000 em- 
ployees at its East Pittsburg plant. 
The Westinghouse Machine Co. is 



— 38 — 



capitalized at $5,000,000, while the 
Union Switch and Signal Co., the 
smallest of the Westinghouse indus- 
tries, finds no difficulty in earning good 
dividends on $3,000,000 capital. It 
was George Westinghouse who con- 
ceived and carried out the daring 
project of piping natural gas from the 
Murraysville gas wells to Pittsburg, a 
distance of forty miles. As the enter- 
prise would cost many millions and the 
utility of it was problematical, the wise 
men of the day said it was foolhardy 
and certain to result in failure. Mr. 
Westinghouse, however, felt he was on 
the right track ; he inspired some of his 
friends with his own faith, and the 
— 39 — 



project was carried through. It made 
fortunes for every one that went into 
it, and gave a great impetus to Pitts- 
burg's industries. Mr. Westinghouse, 
through his various activities, has 
brought immense wealth to Pittsburg 
and added possibly over 100,000 souls 
to the population. 

I might go on and tell of the charac- 
teristics and the business accomplish- 
ment of a number 'of other leaders in 
industrial exploitation — the Olivers, 
fertile in brilliant ideas and daring in 
the carrying out of the same; the 
Parks, more cautious and careful, suc- 
cess coming to them through the per- 
fection of their goods ; the Millers, the 
— 40 — 




Allegheny County Court House. 



Mellons, the MeKees, the Chamberses, 
the Macbeths, the Joneses, the Pain- 
ters, the Byerses, the Moorheads, all 
thriving and prosperous, aiding in the 
growth of Pittsburg through their en- 
ergetic and capable, and, in a measure, 
concerted work. But the list would be 
too long. Suffice it to say that the 
city is rich in such types, and their 
combined genius and enterprise have 
made it one of the greatest manufac- 
turing centers, if not the greatest, on 
the face of the globe. 



— 41 — 



The Millionaire and What He Represents. 

One of the remarkable results of this 
sudden and enormous production of 
wealth has been the creation of the 
genus millionaire. The millionaire 
springs up in Pittsburg like a weed. 
George Westinghouse invites 
shrewd young men into his service, and 
behold ! in a year or two they are mill- 
ionaires; Andrew Carnegie waves his 
magic wand and forty millionaires 
spring into existence in a day. The 
millionaire is omnipresent. He is dem- 
— 42 — 



ocratic to a degree, in a few instances 
coarsely conspicuous, again proud, 
aristocratic and aggressively exclusive. 
He has his eccentricities and his fads. 
In one instance you find him building 
libraries, not only in all parts of the 
home community, but in cities and 
towns all over the face of the globe. 
Again you will find him with the love 
of flowers and plants so fully devel- 
oped that he is not satisfied unless he 
erects a $100,000 conservatory, or 
makes a $100,000 addition to an exist- 
ing one. A curious but none the less 
commendable fancy is the creation of 
a mushroom cellar, said to be the 
largest and most perfect in America. 
— 43 — 



A pastime with another is the giving 
away of big checks — on one occasion, 
at a birthday party, where eight mem- 
bers of his immediate family were 
present, each one found under his plate 
a certified check for a million dollars. 
One millionaire who is deeply devoted 
to politics as a pastime, loans a 
$100,000 residence to his election dis- 
trict to be used as a polling place. It 
is used for no other purpose. The 
fancy of another is fine cigars — he has 
them especially made in Cuba, each 
cigar in a paper wrapper with his name 
and coat of arms printed on it. These 
cigars, which cost him about fifty cents 
apiece, he rarely smokes. He puts 
— 44 — 



them in his mouth, chews the ends off, 
and then throws them away. Harm- 
less, but laughable acts, such as the 
placing in every conceivable location 
about the house and grounds of statues 
of peacocks, the running of a special 
train de luxe from San Francisco to 
Pittsburg for no other purpose than to 
attract attention; the spending of 
$175,000 for an automobile stable; the 
excessive indulgence in having a wife's 
picture painted — painted in life size 
and miniature by every painter of 
prominence that comes along, regard- 
less of expense; the presenting of 
numerous friends with costly automo- 
biles, are the fads of several others of 
— 45 — 



v 



the newly-made millionaire of Pitts- 
burg. 

But be the weaknesses of our 250 
odd millionaires what they may, we 
cannot forget the manner of the ac- 
quisition of their wealth and the mar- 
velous productivity it represents. 

And just here it may not be inappro- 
priate to cite some of Pittsburg's mod- 
ern products and the quarters to which 
they find their way. We supply armor 
plate for battleships, and, not to be 
narrow-minded, shells which are guar- 
anteed to pierce the best made armor 
plate that can be produced. 

We make locomotives, not only for 
domestic use, but for South and Cen- 
— 46 — 



tral America, Africa, India and other 
foreign lands. 

A large trade is done in steel boats 
(hulls) for use in New York, New 
Orleans and other American harbors, 
as well as for use in South American 
and Mexican waters. 

Our Fireproofmg Company furnish- 
es material for buildings in every city 
in this country. It has recently en- 
tered the European field and has se- 
cured large contracts in London, St. 
Petersburg and other capitals. 

In the reconstruction of devastated 

Baltimore, Pittsburg is doing a great 

work in supplying vast quantities of 

fireproofing in addition to thousands 

* — 47 — 



of tons of steel structural shapes. Our 
plate glass and window glass factories 
are also aiding the good work with 
large supplies of their necessary 
products. 

Our crucible works produce a large 
proportion of tool steel for the United 
States. Pittsburg tools are used in the 
mines in Colorado, California, Idaho 
and Montana, while they are also found 
in use in Mexico, South America and 
even in the diamond mines of South 
Africa. 

It seems scarcely necessary to call 

attention to the world-wide use of that 

well-known life and property saving 

Pittsburg invention, the Westinghouse 

— 48 — 



airbrake. There are few railroads on 
the face of the globe which are not 
equipped with this simple yet wonder- 
ful device. While not so generally in 
use as the airbrake, the safety appli- 
ances made by the Union Switch and 
Signal Co. are used in vast quantities 
on the railroads of the United States, 
and are highly valued for their utility 
and efficiency. 

Another business, the market of 
which is measured only by the world, 
is that of the Westinghouse Electric 
Co. This company's motors are now 
on street car lines, in office buildings, 
factories, shops, etc., from one end of 
the land to the other. Its electric light 
— 49 — 



plants, as its enthusiastic agent says, 
not only give light and happiness to 
streets, office, hotel and dwelling 
houses all over America and Europe, 
but light up St. Peter's at Rome, the 
Pyramids of Egypt, the Mosques of 
Constantinople, and the pagodas of 
Peking. 

It might not be irrelevant to state 
that while traveling last summer in 
France and Germany it was not only 
interesting, but pride-satisfying, to see 
the magic words, "Westinghouse Air- 
brake," on cars one traveled in ; to find 
Heinz's Pittsburg pickles and tomato 
catsup on the tables of the dining cars 
and hotels, and, tell this in whispers 
— 50 — 



only, seeing on the counters of the so- 
called "American bars," to warm the 
cockles of French and German hearts, 
old Monongahela rye. 



\^' \^? 



51 — 



Racial Divisions. 

No more striking illustration of the 
great change that has taken place 
among the working classes of the com- 
munity in the recent past can be given 
than the facts concerning the em- 
ployees in the mills. Twenty years ago 
the mill workers were Irish and Ger- 
man, with a large proportion of Eng- 
lish and Welsh, the latter two races 
being particularly strong in the copper, 
tin plate and puddling mills. Now 
nearly all the labor employed at these 
— 52 — 



plants, except for skilled work, is col- 
ored and foreign (Eastern and South- 
eastern Europe). Altogether there are 
thirty or more nationalities in Pitts- 
burg's population, every nation in Eu- 
rope and almost every one in Asia 
being represented. 

Of the non-English speaking races, 
the German — foreign born and native 
children of foreign born parents — are 
the most numerous, thrifty and sub- 
stantial. As nearly as can be esti- 
mated, there is a German population in 
Greater Pittsburg of 80,000. While 
the Germans are pretty generally scat- 
tered throughout the various wards 
of the city, there are three or four 
— 53 — 



centers where they gather together in 
such numbers as to completely Ger- 
manize the locality. One such center 
is what is known as the East street 
and Troy Hill district. This region is 
thoroughly Teutonic. The signs on 
the stores are in German, on the streets 
and in the shops nothing but German 
is spoken, the churches are German, 
concert halls and beer gardens, con- 
ducted in the style of similar institu- 
tions in the fatherland, are in abundant 
evidence; theatrical performances in 
German are of frequent occurrence; 
"Turn Vereins" and "Mannerchors" 
flourish in profusion — in fact, the en- 
tire life of the place is German through 

— 54 — 



and through. Possibly one-third of 
the residents of this district cannot 
speak English. Another even larger 
German center, though having more 
outsiders living within its limits, is the 
South Side hilltop wards; in this sec- 
tion the same conditions prevail as on 
Troy Hill. The South Side wards are 
estimated to have nearly 40,000 Ger- 
man residents. There are in the city 
a number of daily and weekly papers 
printed in German, to cater to this 
extensive element in the population. 

In perseverance, unflinching deter- 
mination to pursue an end once decided 
on, and in thorough, scientific methods, 
the men from the fatherland excel all 

— 55 — 



others. No class of citizens is so well 
situated with respect to worldly goods. 
A German making only $1.50 a day 
saves money and owns a home, where 
others earning threefold as much 
never own anything. With the Teuton 
the great ambition is to own a home. 
As a people they do not belong to the 
renting class. In a business way it is 
hard to assign any line characteristic 
of the German. He monopolizes the 
distilling and brewing industries, but 
he is also found in almost every line of 
manufacturing, mercantile, financial 
and professional life. Some of the 
most expert chemists, electrical and 
mechanical engineers, physicians, bank- 
— 56 — 



ers, brokers, educators, musicians and 
artists belong to this race. 

It will no doubt be a surprise to 
many to learn that the largest and most 
prosperous foreign element, next to 
the Germans, is the Italians. They are 
fast becoming one of the substantial 
elements of the city's population, and 
securing a footing as good citizens and 
home owners. In the earlier stages of 
Italian immigration their custom was 
to come over, work until they made a 
little money, or until hard times came, 
then fly back to their native land to 
live like princes among their old-time 
neighbors. Of late years a change has 
come. They now desire to become 

— 57 — 



citizens and property owners, and as 
such take an interest in politics. In 
Greater Pittsburg there are about 
40,000 Italians with an additional Ital- 
ian population scattered about in other 
parts of Allegheny county. While 
there are six Italian districts in the 
city, what is popularly known as "Lit- 
tle Italy" is the largest and most dis- 
tinctive. This is located in the Fifth 
and Seventh wards, along Webster 
avenue and its cross streets and alleys. 
Here Italian is the language of the 
stores, the offices, banks and the high- 
ways: To a great extent the Italian is 
the day laborer engaged on street and 
railroad work and the excavation for 
— 58 — 



buildings, although large numbers are 
found vending peanuts, fruits, matches, 
etc. But there are many who have 
risen above these menial employments, 
and who now do an active business in 
other lines. The Webster avenue com- 
munity includes many prosperous mer- 
chants and bankers. There are about 
200 Italians in business for them- 
selves in the city, and of these several 
have amassed fortunes ranging from 
$25,000 to $100,000. 

The East End Italian, settlement, 
which contains about 8,000 souls, is of 
still better character, both as to the 
class of people and the sanitary and 
attractive surroundings of their homes. 



— 59 



The managers of the six weekly Ital- 
ian papers, the sculptors, music teach- 
ers, the real estate men, bankers, steam- 
ship agents and well-to-do merchants 
live here. 

Of the smaller colonies of foreigners 
one of the most interesting is the or- 
thodox Jewish, more commonly known 
as the "ghetto." This is located in the 
streets, courts and alleys in the Hill 
district immediately east of the court 
house, on both sides of Wylie avenue. 
The "ghetto" population is 5,000, 
while the total Hebrew population of 
Greater Pittsburg of all kinds, ortho- 
dox and reform, is about 15,000. The 
Hebrews maintain their own newspa- 
— 60 — 



pers, published in Yiddish, a wretched 
jargon, The "ghetto" Jews usually 
converse in that tongue, showing a 
great inaptitude or, possibly, a lack of 
desire for the study of English. 

The Assyrian colony, the members 
of which are mainly peddlers, contains 
nearly 2,000 people. They have come 
to us as a result of the oppression of 
the Turk, most of them having emi- 
grated in the last few years. They 
mingle very little with other elements 
of the population and rarely marry out- 
side their own race, the attractions of 
American women or those of other na- 
tions apparently having no fascination 
for the men. They are lovers of things 
— 61 — 



of beauty, and men, that one would 
think from their appearance to be en- 
tirely devoid of an appreciation of art 
in color or handiwork, will go into 
ecstacies over a particularly fine 
Oriental rug, a bit of real lace or a 
handsome jewel. A curious circum- 
stance is that women go about peddling- 
even in larger numbers than the men, 
the reason being that they are much 
quicker at learning our language. 

Another element that is a most de- 
sirable addition to the population of 
the city is the Greek, this people, like 
the Assyrians, having come here to es- 
cape the persecutions of the Turk. 
There are at present probably 2,000 of 
— 62 — 



them. They make good citizens. No 
sooner do they land than they make 
application for naturalization papers. 
As workmen they are industrious and 
efficient. Some of the best painters 
and decorators belong to this race, as 
do also many of the most highly 
skilled mechanics at the Westinghouse 
works. They also engage in the sale of 
flowers and confectionery, while the 
bootblacking business of the city is to 
a great extent monopolized by them. 

A very large proportion of the labor- 
ers in and about the mills and mines 
are Poles and various other Slavish 
peoples. Of the Poles alone there are 
about 55,000 in the county, while the 
— 63 — 



Croatians, Huns, etc., number possibly 
30,000. They are a hard-working, 
sturdy people and seem especially well 
fitted to do the arduous manual work 
peculiar to a manufacturing center. 
Contractors say they prefer the Slavs 
to the Italians for excavating and 
other rough labor because of their 
strength, endurance and docility. The 
great increase in the Eastern and 
Southern European class of emigrants 
has had a decided effect on the political 
conditions and may lead to even 
greater. Unlike the emigrants from 
Northern Europe, those from Southern 
Europe are almost exclusively Roman 
Catholic, and to them their church is 
— 64 — 



the ne plus ultra of life. This has led 
to the practice of conducting political 
work through the medium of the 
priesthood and the consequent de- 
bauchery of the priests, and the voting 
of ignorant people en bloc at the behest 
of these parish leaders. One pastor of 
a Lithuanian congregation, having 
fully 1,000 voters in his parish, makes 
no secret of his ability to control the 
greater proportion of their votes. In 
certain Bohemian and Croatian church- 
es the barter and sale of votes by the 
priests is even more bare-faced. 



65 



The City Beautiful. 

It can justly be asserted that Pitts- 
burg has shown itself to be em- 
phatically up-to-date in business mat- 
ters, and, with its industrial supremacy 
thus assured, it is now beginning- to 
think about other things. Up to about 
ten or twelve years since comparatively 
little attention was paid to public im- 
provements. The streets were ill 
paved, narrow and altogether unat- 
tractive. Fine public buildings or 
business buildings were the exception. 



L.ofC. 



As for such ornamental and beneficial 
features of city life as parks, there 
was nothing worth mention. About 
this time, however, the civic pride of 
the people was aroused, and a good be- 
ginning was made. Since then parks 
have been laid out, the largest contain- 
ing some 400 acres, and these have 
been beautified in various ways. Fif- 
teen miles of boulevard have been laid 
out and improved at great expense. 
One of the largest conservatories in 
the country has been built and stocked 
with rare plants and flowers from all 
parts of the globe. A number of hand- 
some public bath houses have been put 
up at several points along the rivers, to 
— 67 — 



afford bathing for thousands of work- 
ers. A most extensive public library, 
an art gallery and a museum have been 
erected and filled with rich treasures. 
A zoological garden has been estab- 
lished in one of the parks and is al- 
ready stocked with a valuable collec- 
tion of animals. Downtown many 
new buildings have sprung up. Where 
a few years since there was nothing 
but small buildings, scarcely worthy 
of a small country town, skyscrapers 
have been erected, manv of them as 
handsomely finished as any in the 
country. The growing demand for 
civic improvements has forced the wid- 
ening of two downtown streets, regard- 
— 68 — 



less of expense, this to be followed 
shortly by the widening of three or 
four more. The new administration 
fortunately has progressive ideas and 
has the backbone to put them into ef- 
fect. Backed by the strong public 
demand for a better city there is no 
doubt that much commendable work 
will be inaugurated and pushed 
through by the public works depart- 
ment. 

There has always been an educated 
and cultured class in Pittsburg, though 
not as extensive in proportion to the 
population as is the case in some of the 
seaboard cities. The pouring into 
the city of thousands of scientific, col- 
lege bred men, attracted by the de- 
mands of the expanding industrial 



enterprises, has had a most beneficial 
and elevating effect on the character 
of the community. There has been an 
awakening. In educational matters 
the most notable evidence of progress 
is Andrew Carnegie's technical school, 
the equal of which is probably not' to 
be. found anywhere in the land. Mr. 
Carnegie gave $10,000,000 for the es- 
tablishment of this institution, and he 
promises to make it the greatest of its 
kind in the world. Much attention is 
being paid to the development of the 
artistic and literary tastes of the peo- 
ple. In addition to a dozen or more 
large private collections of paintings 
in which are some very valuable works, 
the permanent collection at the Car- 
— 70 — 



negie • gallery; ; a public ' institution,' Is 
growing rapidly, and since great care 
is ' exercised in the selections, many 
choice paintings are being hung there. 
In the museum, another Carnegie bene- 
faction, a varied and most valuable 
collection has been brought together. 
Great progress has been made in music. 
The establishment nine years ago of 
the Pittsburg Orchestra, an exception- 
ally fine organization, marked the 
opening of a new epoch in the musical 
advancement of the city. The educa- 
tive effect of the work of this superb 
body and the powerful stimulus which 
the presence of some seventy high class 
professional musicians has had on the 
musical life of the city is most marked. 
— 71 — 



The fact that over a hundred citizens 
promptly stepped forward a few 
months since with their financial guar- 
antee to secure the orchestra manage- 
ment against loss for the term of three 
years speaks volumes, as the amount 
required to make up the annual deficit 
is no mean sum. It demonstrates 
clearly the growing love for high class 
music, and the determination to have it 
at any cost. 

Pittsburg is not only resolved to be 
supreme in the manufacturing world, 
but also intends to bring about vastly 
better civic conditions and to educate 
her people in art, music and letters to 
a degree undreamed of by her residents 
of a generation or two ago. 

— 72 — 




Entrance to Highland Park. 



NOV 17 1904 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



mm 

014 313 




